The Catholic Culture Podcast

Dappled Things: The Quarterly of Ideas, Art, and Faith is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In its 20 years it has contributed to the beginning of a Catholic literary revival, nurturing the talents of many Catholic writers and visual artists. In recent years especially, many exciting new initiatives, presses, and magazines have branched off from Dappled Things. Bernardo Aparicio Garcia (founder and publisher) and Rhonda Ortiz (editor-in-chief) join the podcast to discuss Dappled Things’s mission and various topics to do with Catholic fiction. Links Dappled Things https://www.dappledthings.org/ See the winners of the Sacred Heart Art Competition https://www.dappledthings.org/deep-down-things/winners-of-the-sacred-heart-art-competition “The Off Season” by Ennis James Sheehan https://www.dappledthings.org/fiction/the-off-season Rhonda Ortiz https://rhondaortiz.com/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

The discussion centers on Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Libertas, which redefines true liberty beyond modern interpretations. It critiques the classical notion of liberalism, warning of its potential dangers like relativism and tyranny. The hosts examine the pitfalls of what Leo calls false liberties, such as unbounded freedom of speech and religious indifferentism. They emphasize that true freedom is rooted in doing justice and submitting to God's will, challenging contemporary views on autonomy and moral responsibility.

Gideon Lazar, a theologian and Jewish convert to Catholicism, shares deep insights into the often misunderstood relationship between the Church and the Jewish community. He discusses the theological shifts post-Vatican II, challenging misconceptions about Jewish identity and salvation. Topics include the nuances of supersessionism, the importance of faith and works, and the historical dynamics of covenants. Lazar advocates for a renewed dialogue that honors tradition while addressing modern complexities, emphasizing shared values and the necessity of respectful discourse.

Elisabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong joins the podcast to tell the inspiring story of her older brother, Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, the heroic Vietnamese Cardinal who was imprisoned by the Communists for 13 years, 8 of those in solitary confinement. Thuan was descended from a line of Vietnamese martyrs, and his uncle was the devout Catholic President and Prime Minister of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, who himself was something of a martyr. Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan: Man of Joy and Hope https://ignatius.com/cardinal-nguyen-van-thuan-cfntp/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

My other interview with Jane: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/147-world-is-falling-away-jane-greer/  

Get free PDF of New Questions, Old Answers: Catholic Morals and Natural Family Planning https://profide.io/nfp/ Article on the marital debt https://christianrenaissancemovement.com/2023/02/23/thoughts-on-the-marital-debt/ The way Natural Family Planning is commonly taught does not adequately reflect the Church’s perennial teachings on the purpose of marital relations, on sexual asceticism, and the good of continence. To be sure, critics of NFP are wrong when they say it is the same as contraception. The Church has deemed it legitimate to use under certain circumstances. Yet its typical presentation in marriage prep programs and by popular Catholic speakers has ended up, in practice, encouraging couples toward habitual venial sin. Discussions of NFP often end up in confusion because they fail to distinguish two separate moral issues: that of avoiding marital relations during fertile periods, and that of engaging in them specifically during infertile periods. As to the first issue, the Church has said we need sufficient reason to deliberately avoid procreating for a long period of time. But the second issue involves a moral doctrine that is virtually never heard of today: that there are particular ends which must be intended in any act of marital relations, and in particular, that it is a venial sin for married couples to have relations purely for pleasure (solam voluptatem, in Pope Innocent XI’s phrase). The latter is the teaching of all Fathers and Doctors of the Church without exception. Given this moral doctrine, and given the Church’s (and St. Paul’s) traditional encouragement of asceticism within marriage, the question arises: may married couples engage in recreational relations specifically while trying to avoid conception? Answering this question involves questions about the intrinsic ends of sexual intercourse, questions about what “purely for pleasure” even means, etc. The stakes of the question are low in the sense that this would generally be a matter of venial sin, but  high in the sense that it bears on our understanding of the very purpose of marriage and sex, and because habitual, deliberate venial sin is incompatible with a marriage’s growth in holiness. Moral theologian Eamonn Clark joins the podcast to discuss his groundbreaking book (the first on this topic since the 1940s), New Questions, Old Answers: Catholic Morals and Natural Family Planning. His conclusions occupy a middle ground between the extremely strict position of some great Catholic authorities of the past, and the laxity and sensualism presented by some well-regarded and well-meaning popular speakers today. This discussion will be spiritually and perhaps emotionally challenging to many listeners, but I urge you to listen with an open heart, because even if you end up disagreeing with some of the specific conclusions, you will come away better informed about Church teaching, and equipped to consider for yourself how you can seek greater holiness in marriage. In particular, I highly recommend Eamonn’s book to anyone who is involved in running marriage preparation programs. Eamonn Clark is a licensed moral theologian of the Catholic Church – he has an STB and STL from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, where he is currently a lay doctoral student researching the social teaching of Pope Pius XI. DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

Explore the call for a revival of Christian philosophy by Pope Leo XIII, highlighting the encyclical Aeterni Patris. Delve into the chaos of Catholic thought between the 16th and 18th centuries and the need for a unified approach. Discover how philosophy and faith intertwine, shaping societal understanding of truth. The discussion also examines the historical challenges posed by pagan thought and the significance of thinkers like St. Augustine and Aquinas. Anticipate explorations of theological diversity in Catholicism and contrasts with Enlightenment views.

Margot Fassler, a renowned expert on St. Hildegard of Bingen and a professor at the University of Notre Dame, dives into the enchanting world of the 12th-century abbess's music. They discuss how Hildegard's unique blend of music, theology, and cosmology propelled her compositions into a realm ahead of their time. Margot highlights the innovative nature of her work 'Ordo Virtutum,' the spiritual narratives in her melodies, and how her music continues to resonate today, enhancing modern liturgical practices and inspiring individual faith journeys.

We all know the secular world opposes the very idea of a person with same-sex attraction seeking any kind of therapy or spiritual counsel that might enable them to reach a state of healthy relations with the opposite sex. But what’s odd is that many Catholics seem to have bought into this. Many assume that if someone is not currently attracted to the opposite sex, this is a static, lifelong condition and therefore they must be called to celibacy. But this view involves multiple misunderstandings – of the SSA experience, of anthropology, of the power of God’s grace, and of the good of celibacy itself. Today’s guests know otherwise because they both have a background with same-sex attraction, and yet are each now married with children. Andrew Comiskey and Marco Casanova run Desert Stream and Living Waters Ministries, which for decades have offered help to Christians seeking healing from sexual disorders (including but not limited to SSA). This conversation offers solid, spiritually and psychologically sound, experience-based answers to some disputed questions about how the Church should be pastoring those with same-sex attraction. It's not about “conversion therapy”. It’s about conversion in the Catholic sense – one day at a time. --Can we really put a ceiling on God’s ability to heal us psychologically? --Does any attempt at such healing amount to the secular bugbear of “conversion therapy”? --What does life look like for a person with a “gay” past who is now married to the opposite sex? --Is it legitimate for Christians to embrace a gay identity as long as they don’t act out sexually? --Is there such a thing as a chaste same-sex romantic relationship? Links Thomas Mirus, “Your sexual pathology doesn’t make you special” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/your-sexual-pathology-doesnt-make-you-special/ Andrew Comiskey, Rediscovering Our Lost Fullness: A Guide to Sexual Integration https://sophiainstitute.com/product/rediscovering-our-lost-fullness/ Desert Stream Ministries http://www.desertstream.org/ Desert Stream on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJVUJQREephvIkJWlTuwXBg DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

Fr. John Nepil, priest and mountaineer, joins the podcast to discuss his book To Heights and Unto Depths: Letters from the Colorado Trail. Topics discussed include: The modern view of "nature" vs. God's creation A morally responsible approach to risk-taking The modern origins of hiking as a secular activity "Wilderness" vs. "garden" - Catholic attitudes toward the wild places To Heights and Unto Depths https://ignatius.com/to-heights-and-unto-depths-thudp/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters